Hey so, the “looting” argument is used the world over as a pretext to violently crack down on protests. By amplifying that angle over the righteous anger of an oppressed people rising up, news outlet are making a conscious choice to side with the oppressor. Don’t fall for it.

I say this because back in my country, halfway across the world, when an understandably fed up populace took to the streets to protest a corrupt and oppressive government, they were also met with a strategic “but what about the destruction of private property” media push.

The beats were all the same: positioning property over human life, appealing to sympathy for the people losing said property and framing it as “hurting small businesses” or “vandalizing the community”, interviews with carefully chosen “terrified bystanders”. It’s a playbook.

And I’m not saying this is a big conspiracy but rather: your news come from people, those people usually have biases and bosses, those bosses usually have money and power and a vested interest in the status quo. Why wouldn’t they wield this power to protect their interest?

They would, and so should you, by standing with the historically -obviously- oppressed and knowing when your ability to empathize is used to manipulate you to act against your own interest. People are more important than corporate interests or private property (which is usually

insured here in America, since that’s a huge business too, let’s be real.)
Support the protestors in Minneapolis.